Qualifying Meet Reflection
I wanted to have this post done last week but to be honest, life got in the way, which is okay and will happen from time to time so I had a bit more time to reflect on the entire experience.
For me, the worst part of meet day is arriving and waiting for weigh-ins. I don’t have a good relationship with the scale (which I am working on) and the added pressure of actually have to make weight doesn’t help with the stress level which in turn doesn’t help with the weight (such an awesome cycle that stress seems to have on our bodies). I’m going to start meditating on a regular basis again along with focusing on things that bring me joy to help keep my stress levels lower. I want to see heading into the next meet in March if I better manage my stress as well as implementing some diet changes to see how that will help me manage my weight fluctuations.
For this meet, they offered early check-in and equipment check, which was awesome! Makes the morning of the meet so much less stressful since all you have left to do is show up, weigh-in and then lift. Being able to take care of as much as possible the night before just made the morning flow so much better.
I’m still in disbelief that I was able to go three for three on my back squat, I keep watching the videos just to make sure. Back squatting, especially in a competitive setting is something I wasn’t sure I was ever going to be able to do. I’ve always had trouble hitting depth because of my knees and I don’t know what hitting depth truly feels like so my goal was to be able to get at least one good squat of 100# or slightly more. I just wanted one, one good back squat, that way I could have a qualifying total for Regionals, and I actually was able to get all 3 white lights on all three of my squats! Achieving this and having them feel amazing is giving me such hope for the future and what I might actually be able to do! Goes to show that you shouldn’t always accept what your mind is telling you because once you push past those limits your body shows you what it’s truly capable of.
For the bench, my favorite lift, I only hit two out of three lifts because my butt came off the bench on my last attempt. At least the weight moved smoothly so I just have to focus on keep my butt and feet planted and I’ll be able to hit at least that weight or possibly more next meet. It’s kind of funny how things work out when it comes to lifting, sometimes you hit PRs and sometimes you make a mistake, it’s all about how to get through it and move on to the next lift. I knew at the end of the lift that it wasn’t good, you can see me shaking my head in the video. I’d be lying if I didn’t let that mistake get into my head a little bit which sometimes happens when I’m training as well. I’ve learned to turn my thoughts from “I messed up” to okay what can I do better next time to prevent that from happening again. I would have definitely preferred to go three for three on bench but it wasn’t meant to be this time.
When warming up for my deadlifts, I was a bit worried. I felt as though maybe my thoughts had a larger affect that I originally thought because my warm-ups felt horrible. Each time I picked up the bar it felt extraordinarily heavy and I wasn’t even close to my one rep max. I keep telling myself just pick up the bar and stop thinking about how heavy it felt, I just needed to make sure that I had some good lifts on the platform. When it came time to pull my first attempt, I just went out, set up and picked up the bar. It still felt super heavy but I executed the lift and walked away with three white lights. My second attempt was more than what I had lifted for my third attempt at my last meet so I was a bit concerned on how it was going to feel. This time I used some of the smelling salts that were available and umm yea, my nose was on fire but strangely enough I felt energized. My third attempt was going to be dependent on how this second attempt felt so I needed it to feel good, it was heavy but it needed to move smooth and thankfully it felt amazing! I was truly shocked after how all of my other deadlifts felt up to that point. I decided I was going to go for the higher number that my coach and I had discussed. When it came time for that third attempt, I was hell bent on getting that lift. I psyched myself up mentally, chalked up my hands, smelled the salts and went out and killed that lift! It was such an awesome feeling, it was heavy, I had to grind a bit but it went up smooth and faster than I expected. I’m putting this out there - I want to hit a new all-time PR at my next meet in March.
Overall, this meet was more than I could have expected. There were so many people in the crowd cheering everyone on, my husband came and cheered me on and was my videographer so I have evidence it all actually happened haha. Sometimes when I reflect on meet days, I’m truly amazed at what an awesome feeling it is to have months of work come together and culminate in a successful meet. Every meet doesn’t always go to plan just like plenty of other things in life but if you prepare, do the work, and keep yourself focused you can set yourself up for success and learn so much about yourself in the process. When I first discovered my love for the barbell and lifting heavy, competing was something I never gave a second thought to, I just enjoyed the feeling of how the barbell feels, how it doesn’t lie to you (you either put in the work or you don’t), and how getting stronger made me feel, that’s how my journey started. Being able to compete is icing on the cake because I get to do something I absolutely love despite some of the obstacles life has put in my way.
Overall, I took first in my age group and weight class and am now a NV State Champion, I also set some new records for my age/weight.
Always focus on what drives you, what fuels your soul, what lights you on fire because this is where you can truly push yourself out of your comfort zone into somewhere you might never have even considered.
